Power and steering unit



April 14 1959 D. RAzE, 2,881,561

POWER AND STEERING UNIT Filed Jan. 14, 1957 United States Patent POWERAND STEERING UNIT Douglas D. Raze, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application January 14, 1957, Serial No. 633,974

9 Claims. (Cl. 46-211) This invention relates to power and steeringunits. More particularly it relates to a self-contained power andsteering unit capable of automatically changing the direction of itsmovement when an obstruction is encountered.

Various units have been constructed in the past for the purpose ofproviding a mechanism which will automatically change its direction ofmovement when an obstruction is encountered so as to enable the deviceto continue across a planar surface. Such a device is especiallydesirable for use in the construction of childrens toys. My own twoprior patents, Patent No. 2,641,869 issued to me June 16, 1953 andentitled, Toy Steering Mechanism and Patent No. 2,171,294 issued to meAugust 29, 1939 and entitled, Power and Steering Mechanism, are examplesof such devices. Most such units, however, are relatively complex instructure and are so expensive to manufacture and market as to make thesales thereof in large volume not feasible. My instant invention isdirected toward overcoming these disadvantages.

It is a general object in my invention to provide a novel and improvedpower and steering unit of inexpensive and simple construction andoperation.

A more specic object is to provide a novel and improved power andsteering unit requiring a minimum of parts, being inexpensive instructure and cost of assembly, and functioning in an improved mannerand upon a different principal.

Another object is to provide a novel and improved power and steeringunit which will repeatedly change directions when engaging anobstruction until the obstruction has been cleared by the unit.

Another object is to provide a novel power and steering unit constructedso simply and inexpensively as to lend itself readily to large scaleproduction at a minimum of cost.

Another object is to provide a novel and improved power and steeringunit which utilizes a guide member in cooperation with a singlepropelling element to determine the normal direction of movement of theunit and to alter the same when an obstruction is encountered by theunit.

Another object is to provide a novel and improved power and steeringunit which utilizes the tilt of a tiltably mounted frame to determineand alter the direction of movement of the unit itself.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fullyappear from the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to similarparts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view of one embodiment of my invention; and

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Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

One embodiment of my invention as shown in Figs. 1-2 may include aninverted U-shaped metal frame 5 having a pair of depending legs 6 and 7.A spring motor 8 is mounted on the underside of the inverted frame 5 andhas a drive shaft 9 extending upwardly and downwardly therefrom. Thisdrive shaft 9 is driven by the spring motor 8 and carries a ring gear 10secured to its lower portions. A spring latch member 11 having latching.arms 12 and 13 is fixedly mounted on the lower end portion of the driveshaft 9. The resilient latching arms 12 and 13 serve to engage the ringgear 10 by means of openings 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e and 10j formed inthe ring gear 10 for that purpose as best shown in Fig. l. It will bereadily seen that in this manner the spring motor 8 drives the ring gear10 and the spring motor may be wound relative to the ring gear 10through rotation of the drive shaft 9 in the direction indicated in thearrows of Fig. 1.

Carried by the lower end portion of the drive shaft 9 immediately belowthe latch member 11 is a mounting bracket 14. This mounting bracket 14is secured to the lower end of the drive shaft 9 by a cotter key 15. Ashaft 16 extending transversely of the frame is rotatably mounted in themounting bracket 14 and extends outwardly therefrom in oppositedirections. The shaft is journaled for rotation in the opposite legs 6and 7 of the frame 5, the shaft extending outwardly beyond each of theselegs and carrying a freely rotatable support wheel 17 at one of its endsand a drive wheel 18 at its other end portion. The wheels 17 and 18 holdthe frame 5 and the shaft 16 in elevated relation to any planar surfacesuch as the surface 19 upon which the wheels 17 and 18 may rest. Thedrive wheel 18 is xed to the shaft 16 for rotation therewith while thesupport wheel 17 is mounted for free rotation relative to the shaft 16and is in nondriving relation to the frame.

The shaft 16 is driven by means of la pinion 20 which is iixedly securedto the shaft 16 for rotation therewith and which cooperates with and isengaged by the ring gear 10. The pinion 20, the shaft 16 and the drivewheel 18 are all in driven relation to the ring gear 10 and the sourceof rotary power, the spring motor 8.

A gear train indicated generally as T is utilized for the sole purposeof preventing the spring motor 8 from unwinding too rapidly. This geartrain T includes a countershaft 21 which is journaled in the forwardportions of the depending legs 6 and 7 of the frame 5 and which carriesa pinion 22 xedly secured thereto. This pinion 22 cooperates with a gear23 which is mounted on the shaft 16 in fixed relation with the pinion 20so that as the pinion 20 rotates the gear 23 will rotate therewith anddrive the pinion 22. Mounted on the opposite end of the countershaft 21is another gear 24 which cooperates with a pinion 25 mounted for freerotation on the shaft 16 and iixedly secured to a gear 26 which in turnengages a pinion 27 carried by the counter shaft 21. A iiywheel 28 islixedly secured to the pinion 27.

Mounted on the forward portions of the depending legs 6 and 7 of theframe 5 is a guide wheel 30 which is mounted for free rotation relativeto the frame on an axis extending parallel to the axis of the shaft 16.This guide wheel 30 has a soft rubber outer coating 31 whichfrictionally engages the planar surface 19 during the normal movement ofthe unit.

Mounted in encasing relation to the frame 5 and the rest of the unitpreviously described is a dome shaped housing 32 which is open at thebottom and extends downwardly normally to within a short distance of theplanar surface 19. As best shown in Fig. 2 this housing 32 is carried bythe frame 5 via the drive shaft 9 which extends through an opening inthe top of the housing. The housing 32 is normaliy maintained in spacedand eieyated relation relative to. the frame S and, the wheels 17 and 18by a coiled spring 33 which is disposed around the. drive shaft Qbetween the frame. 5 and the under sltlrftacey of the housing. A windingdisc 34 is threaded unto the upper en d of the drive shaft A9.

My power and steering unit is very simple to use. The spring motor 8canv readily be wound by pressing downvardly upon the housing 3,2whereupon it will move to the broken line position shown in Fig. 2 sothat the wheels 1,7 and 18 and the guide wheel 31 will be engagedvthereupon and the lower edge of the housing 30 will engage the planarsurface 19.A By merely winding the Winder disc 34 the power motor canthen very easily be. wound to tensionedV position. During the course ofthe winding the spring lever 1 2 will slip from one of the openings 10ato 10b and thence to 10c successively and will serve to prevent thepower motor from unwinding until the power and steering unit isreleased. Upon its release the power motor 8y will tend to unwind andwill cause the latching arms 12 and 13 to drive the ring gear r1.0 whichin turn will drive the pinion 2 0 and the drivewheel 1 va the shaft 16.Since. only the guide wheel tends to propel the unit, the unit has aknatural tendency to rotate about the non-driven support wheel 17 woulddo so were it not forthe guide wheel 30 which,v engages the planarsurface 19 frictionally to preeiude swinging and lateral movementthereof. As a result the unit will move forwardly. in a straight linenormal to the longitudinal axis of the shaft 16 until such time* as. anvobstruction is encountered. When an obstruetlon is encountered bytheunit (which may be the the result ofy the housing 32 striking aforeign object sugh as a table, etc.) the ring gear 10 tends toclimbaround the pinionZt) in a reversed direction toward the rear` of theframe so that the front end` portions of the depending arms 6" and- 7and the guide wheel 30 will 4slightly elevated or at least the weight ofthe unit will be taken off of the guide wheel 30 sufliciently to enable1t tov swing laterally. Itwill be seen that the frame is soConstruetedthat the balance of weight of the unit is to the same sideof` the shaft 16 as the guide wheel 3? so that normally suflicientweight will be brought to bear upon `the guide wheelto preclude lateralswinging. When an obstruction. is encountered, however, a retarding acrtipnfisplaced upon thepinion 20, through the inability of the guidewheel 18 to move forwardly farther and hence thewpower motor 8 causesthe ring gear to climb around thepinion 20 therebyl elevating the guidewheel 31 slightly and taking the weight of the unit off the same. Whentalges place, the; guide wheel 30 will swing in the direction of thearrow adjacent thereto as shown in Pig. 1 and will continue to swinginthaty direction until the weight vof the unitis again returned upon theguide wheel whereupon the unit will proceed-forwardlyin a directionnormal to the axis of the guide wheel. It is obvious that as long-as theobstruction is encountered the drive wheel 18y will continue to swingthe unit about the non-driven wheel 17 and that-when the obstruction iscleared the unit will again proceedl in a straight line directionalmovement Thus it can be seen that I have provided an extremely simpleand inexpensive device which is self-contained to power itself across aplanar surface and to automatically vary its direction repeatedly untilobstructions. encounteredthereby. havebeen cleared. Such a devicewhenutilized to power and steer a toy will propel the toy constantly` solong as thepower motor is wound up. This eliminates one ofthe-chieffcriticisms of many toys which. is that they become immovablewhen any obstruction 4 such as a wall, table or chair leg isencountered. Such toys soon lose their interest for children, especiallythose of younger years. A toy powered with my power and steering unit,however, will continue to move and amuse the child so long as it iswound up.

My power and steering unit has the advantage of being very simple andinexpensive to construct so that it can be manufactured and sold at areasonable price thereby enabling people of moderate or less means topurchase the same as a toy for their children. It will be noted that ithas a minimum of parts and that it is so simple in design that verylittle expense in the way of Vreplacement of parts will ever benecessary.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention which consists of the mannershown and described herein and set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A power and steering unit comprising a frame, a source of rotarypower carried by said frame, a pair of rotary support members rotatablymounted on said frame at opposite sides thereof for rotation aboutsubstantially parallel axes and adapted to engage a plane surface t0support said frame thereabove, one of said rotary support members beingat all times connected in driven relation to said source of rotary powerfor rotation in a single direction about its axis and the other beingfreely rotatable relative thereto, and a non-powered guide membercarried by said frame at a point lateral of the axis `of said drivenrotary support member and normally frictionally engaging the planesurface supporting said support mem,- bers to guide the direction ofmovement of the entire unit, said source of rotary power beingconstructed and arranged relative to said frame and said guide member tocausen the latter to be elevated out of engagement with the planesupporting said support members when an obstruction isf encountered bysaid unit to thereby cause said driven member to change the directionyof said unit until theobstruction has been cleared.

2. A power and steering unit comprising a frame, a source of rotarypower mounted on said frame, a pair of laterally spaced wheel membersrotatably mounted on said frame for rotation about substantiallyparallel axes and adapted to engage a plane surface to support saidframe thereabove, one of said wheel members being connected in drivenrelation with said source of rotary power for rotation in a singledirection about its axis and the other being free to rotatel relativethereto, and a nonpowered guide wheel rotatably mounted on said frame ata point lateral of the axis of rotation of said driven wheel member forfree rotationl about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of saiddriven wheel member and normally frictionally engaging the plane surfacesupporting said wheels to guide the direction of movement of the entireunit, said source of rotary power being constructed and arrangedrelative to said frame and said guide wheel to cause the latter to be`elevated out of engagement with the plane supporting said wheels when anobstruction is encountered by said unit to thereby cause said drivenwheel to change the direction of said unit until the obstruction hasbeen cleared.'

3. A power and steering unit having in combination a frame, asubstantially horizontal shaft mounted on said frame, a source ofrotative power mounted on said frame, a plurality of rotary supportmembers mounted on said shaft and adapted to engage a plane surface andsupporting said shaft and said frame thereabove, one of said rotarysupportV members being connected with said source of rotative power indriven relation for rotation in a single direction about' its-axisandthe other being free to rotaterelative thereto; anda guide wheelfreely rotatable about an axis substantially parallel Vto thelongitudinal axis of said shaft and carried by said frame laterally ofthe longitudinal axis of said shaft and engaging the surface transversedby said' rotary supportvrnembersl in order to normally guide themovement of the entire unit, said source of rotative power beingconstructed and arranged relative to said frame and said guide wheel tocause the latter to be elevated out of engagement with the planesupporting said wheel and said support members when an obstruction isencountered by said unit to thereby cause said driven member to changethe direction of said nit until the obstruction has been cleared.

4. A power and steering unit having in combination a frame, asubstantially horizontal shaft mounted on said frame, a source of rotarypower mounted on said frame, a plurality of rotatable support membersmounted on said shaft at opposite end portions thereof and adapted toengage a plane surface to support said shaft and said frame thereabove,the rotary support member at only one end portion of said shaft beingconnected with said source of rotary power in driven relation forrotation in a single direction about its axis and the other being freeto rotate relative thereto, and a non-powered guide member carried bysaid frame at a point lateral of the longitudinal axis of said shaft andnormally engaging the plane surface supporting said support member toguide the direction of movement of the entire unit, said source ofrotary power being constructed and arranged relative to said frame andsaid guide member to cause the latter to be elevated out of engagementwith the plane supporting said support members when an obstruction isencountered by said unit to thereby cause said driven member to changethe direction of said unit until the obstruction has been cleared.

5. A power and steering unit comprising, a frame, a shaft mounted forrotation about its longitudinal axis on said frame, a source of rotarypower connected to said shaft in driving relation for rotation thereofin a single direction about its axis and being carried by said frame, apair of wheel members mounted on said shaft and adapted to engage aplane surface to support said shaft and said frame thereabove, one ofsaid wheel members being driven by said shaft in a single directionabout its axis and the other being freely rotatable thereon, and a guidemember carried by said frame and normally frictionally engaging thesurface traversed by said wheel members at a point laterally of theiraxis of rotation to guide the movement of the entire unit, said framebeing capable of substantial rotation about said shaft, said source ofrotary power being consnntrucnted andnn ranged relative to said frameand said guide member to cause said guide member to be swung upwardlyout of engaging relation to such surface by said frame and said sourceof power when an obstruction is encountered by the unit whereupon saiddriven wheel member will pivot around said freely rotatable wheel untilthe obstruction has been cleared and the unit is free to move in a newdirection.

6. A power and steering unit comprising a frame, a shaft mounted forrotation about its longitudinal axis on said frame, a source of rotarypower carried by said frame, a plurality of rotary support membersmounted on said shaft and adapted to engage a plane surface to supportsaid shaft and said frame thereabove, one of said rotary support membersbeing connected at all times through said shaft in driven relation tosaid source of rotary power, for rotation in a single direction aboutits axis and the other being freely rotatable relative thereto and aguide wheel mounted on said frame laterally of the longitudinal axis ofsaid shaft for free rotation about an axis substantially parallel tosaid shaft and normally engaging the plane surface engaged by saidsupport members and guiding the directional movement of the entire unit,said frame being rotatable about said shaft, said source of rotary powerbeing constructed and arranged and operatively connected relative tosaid shaft and said frame to cause said guide wheel to be elevated bysaid frame out of engagement with the plane surface when an obstructionis encountered by the unit whereby the direction of movement of the unitwill be changed by said driven rotary support member.

7. A power and steering unit comprising a frame, a substantiallyhorizontal shaft mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis onsaid frame, a source of rotary power mounted on said frame and connectedto said shaft in driving relation for rotation of the same in a singledirection about its longitudinal axis, a plurality of rotary supportmembers mounted on said shaft and adapted to normally engage a planesurface to support said shaft and said frame thereabove, only one ofsaid rotary members being connected to said shaft in driven relation,and a guide member carried by said frame and frictionally engaging theplane surface upon which said rotary support members normally rest at apoint laterally of their axis of rotation, said frame being rotatableabout said shaft to permit said guide member to be elevated by saidframe out of engagement with the plane surface normally engaged thereby,the balance of weight of the entire unit being disposed laterally of thelongitudinal axis of said shaft and said guide member being disposedlaterally `of said shaft on the same side thereof as that to which thebalance of weight of the unit is disposed whereby said guide member willnormally frictionally engage such a plane surface and may move tononengaging position when an obstruction is encountered by the unit tocause said driven rotary support member to change the direction ofmovement of the entire unit, said source of rotary power beingoperatively connected and constructed and arranged relative to saidshaft and said frame to cause said frame to tilt and thereby elevatesaid guide member to non-engaging position when an obstruction isencountered by said unit.

8. A power and steering unit comprising a frame, a source of rotarypower mounted on said frame, a substantially horizontal axle mounted onsaid frame for rotation about its longitudinal axis and extendingtransversely thereof, a pair of spaced wheels mounted on said axleadapted to engage a planar surface and supporting said axle and saidframe thereabove, gear mechanism connecting one of said wheels in drivenrelation with said source of rotary power for rotation in a singledirection about its axis and the other of said wheels being freelyrotatable and uncontrolled by said source of power, a guide membermounted on said frame and normally frictionally engaging the planarsurface upon which said wheels rest at a point disposed laterally ofsaid axle and operably connected with said source of rotary power tocause said frame to rotate, said frame being rotatable about said axlein a direction to lift said guide member out of engagement with theplane surface normally engaged thereby when an obstruction isencountered by the unit t-o cause said driven wheel to change thedirection of movement of the entire unit.

9. A power and steering unit comprising an inverted U-shaped framehaving depending legs thereon, a shaft mounted for rotation about itslongitudinal axis on said legs and extending substantially horizontallytherebetween, a source of rotary power mounted on said frame anddriveably connected with said shaft to rotate the same in a singledirection about is longitudinal axis, a plurality of rotatable supportmembers mounted on said shaft and adapted to engage a plane surface andsupport the same and said frame thereabove, only one of said supportmembers being drivably connected with said shaft and the other beingfree to rotate relative thereto, a guide member mounted on said frameand normally frictionally engaging the plane surface engaged by saidrotary support members at a point disposed laterally of said shaft anddetermining in cooperation with said driven support member, thedirection of movement of the unit, said frame being rotatable about thelongitudinal axis of said shaft, the balance yof weight of the entireunit being disposed laterally of said shaft and said guide member alsobeingdispcsed laterally of-v said shaft in they same di- ReferencesCited' in the leof thisv patentmtibn aS the balallCe Of Weight Of theUnit, Said Source P of rotary power being operably connected to andconstructed and arranged relative to said frame to cause 1,277591Vaughan Sept. 3, 1918v said frame to me and lift said guide member out0f en. 5 2,001,625 Mu 11er May 14, 193st gagement with its supportingplane surface when an 0b- 2,242,724 Kmesuer May 20, 1941i struction isencountered by the unit whereupon said FOREIGN PATENTS driven supportmember will change the direction of the unit. 43,239 Germany May 8, 1888UNITED STATES PATENT @met CERTIFICATE 0F CGRRECTEN Patent No. 2,881,561April llt, 1959 Douglas Do It is hereby certified that error appears inthe printed specification of theA above numbered patent requiringcorrection and that the seid Letters Patent should read as correctedbelowF Column 5 9 line 4"?? for ffoonsmtruontec er. arun; column in the'patent-u 11, rend. me' constructed 62 lines J+S to 55 should readshotfzfn below instead of as v Wheels reist a point disposed Lte'gerallyof. ysaid axle, said frein being rotatable about said. axle and,opera-:3131" connected with said source of rotary power to cause saidframe to rotate in a direction to liftv said guide member out ofengagement With the plane surface normally engaged thereby when anobstruction is encountered hy the unit to enlise' sait?, driven 'whzgelto change' the direction of movement of the entire' unit,

T Signed and. sealed this 25th fay of August 1959. (SEAL) y Attest:

KARL H Y AISCLTNE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Ocer Commissioner ofPatents

